There’s a brand new Thar coming from Mahindra, that’s something we’ve known for a while now. Its even been caught on test a couple of months ago, but now as it moves through the paces of pre-production. A new test mule has been spotted on test in Tamil Nadu. The Mule in question was sporting Temporary plates and was spotted by an eagle-eyed member of the Facebook group Parikshit Mithran on what appears to be the outskirts of Chennai. Why Chennai? Well, Mahindra’s Research Valley, their in-house R&D is based out of Chennai. Research Valley also deals with product development.

From first glance, the first thing that you notice is that the new car is not only a lot wider than the car it will replace but also seems to have quite a narrow track for its body. Although, as many have speculated on seeing the images, it could also be a case of Mahindra using a next-generation Thar’s body as a guise test the underpinnings of the next-generation of the Scorpio which is also slated for a 2021 launch.

Although, we think that this, in fact, the Thar, as opposed to Scorpio, albeit in very early stages of production. It is likely, however, that both cars will be based around the same platform, and might even share a number of mechanical bits. Naturally, the more off-road oriented Thar is likely to sport a low-range gearbox and a proper 4×4 system as well. Although the spy shots have revealed a lot of interesting details about the mechanicals of the new that, principal among which is the independent coil springs at the rear, replacing the tremendously uncomfortable leaf springs that the Thar had before this.

Although we don’t know a lot about the powertrain that will be used in the 2020 Thar, the one thing that is for sure is the fact it will be a BS6 compliant vehicle. The new Thar could actually see some downsizing with a bigger turbo to compensate for the loss in power. While speculations lead to the question as to whether the Thar will get an all-new motor that could be used across the group, we will have to wait till the launch date gets closer to estimate accurately.

Image Credit: Parikshit Mithran, Facebook

Get live Stock Prices from BSE and NSE and latest NAV, portfolio of Mutual Funds, calculate your tax by Income Tax Calculator, know market’s Top Gainers, Top Losers & Best Equity Funds. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.